Chromecast_DIAL

Chromecast_DIAL is a python library talking to a chromecast via the old DIAL protocol.

The protocol seems poorly supported on ChromeCasts, and only allows submitting YouTube videos.

The application supports a small command line interface for querying and posting to devices on the local netowrk.

For a more feature-complete library, see pychromecast The source code benefits heavily form pydial.

Comman line usage

Discovery

Discover devices on the local network:

python3 -m chromecast_dial --discover

Using particular device

You can also interact with a single device if you know the IP:

python3 -m chromecast_dial --ip 127.0.0.2

Or work with the first device that responds:

python3 -m chromecast_dial --use-first

Posting

Post a YouTube video request on all devices:

python3 -m chromecast_dial --video Dgxz0kZ2dp4

Stoping

Stop the default app (YouTube):

python3 -m chromecast_dial --stop

Stop another app:

python3 -m chromecast_dial --stop --app Netflix

Since nothing else is supported, you will probably see No app running.

Status

With no arguments, the program scan the status of the default app (YouTube) on all devices:

python3 -m chromecast_dial

You can change queried app with --app:

python3 -m chromecast_dial --app Netflix

But you will probably get a App not found.

A table of registered applications can be found on the DIAL registry

Fast scan

To only get configuration end-points, use --fast-scan. This will not query devices for names:

python3 -m chromecast_dial --fast-scan

Module usage

Here is an example script to discover the first device and submit a video to it:

from chromecast_dial import *

urls = discover(use_first=True)
cast = get_chromecasts(urls)[0]
cast.post_youtube_video('Dgxz0kZ2dp4')

TODO

This code uses the DIAL protocol, which is not well supported, and not many feature can be provided with it. There are a few other things that can be implemented:

• Setting video start time &t=3m20s, looping.
• Extra device info through /setup/eureka_info
• Restarting throught posting to /setup/reboot -d ‘{“params”:”now”}’

There appears to be no way to pause videos with the DIAL protocol.